Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ

Now, I think I'm reading the instructions right on the mfslive.org site, but, just wanted to see if anyone had any input here.

I have the original HD and the 1GB extender for this. I figure it may be time to upgrade the internal drive as it's probably going to be on it's last legs sooner rather than later. Looking to go 2GB internal drive and getting rid of the external extender.

As I understand it I can clone them both to a single drive using this tool. Is that correct? Has anyone done it? Am I smoking crack?

Thanks for any advice you can give. If you need more information please feel free to ask and I will do my best to get that for you.

Now, I think I'm reading the instructions right on the mfslive.org site, but, just wanted to see if anyone had any input here.

I have the original HD and the 1GB extender for this. I figure it may be time to upgrade the internal drive as it's probably going to be on it's last legs sooner rather than later. Looking to go 2GB internal drive and getting rid of the external extender.

As I understand it I can clone them both to a single drive using this tool. Is that correct? Has anyone done it? Am I smoking crack?

Thanks for any advice you can give. If you need more information please feel free to ask and I will do my best to get that for you.

Moose

Click to expand...

To start off, you would need to remove the extended drive (AKA divorce the drive) and let it boot up first without it.

Next, make sure its on the 11.0k software version (I'm sure it is as you are running the Tivo currently, but making sure).

I would not recommend the MFS Live boot CD because you have to type Linux type commands and if you typo, or get the wrong drive identifications, it could mess up the Tivo drive.

I would recommend using WinMFS (windows only, and no typing long lines) and you can copy directly to a 2tb drive from the original (Don't forget to make a backup of the original as well.) Truncated backup is fine if you do not want to preserve recordings.

If you are using Western Digital drives, you may need to use WDidle3.exe and disable or extend the auto-parking feature. Tivo cannot use it and sometimes it can interfere with bootups and restarts.

Now, I think I'm reading the instructions right on the mfslive.org site, but, just wanted to see if anyone had any input here.

I have the original HD and the 1GB extender for this. I figure it may be time to upgrade the internal drive as it's probably going to be on it's last legs sooner rather than later. Looking to go 2GB internal drive and getting rid of the external extender.

As I understand it I can clone them both to a single drive using this tool. Is that correct? Has anyone done it? Am I smoking crack?

Thanks for any advice you can give. If you need more information please feel free to ask and I will do my best to get that for you.

Moose

Click to expand...

You might have been able to do that with a 2 internal drive Series 1 or Series 2 setup, but apparently neither MFS Live nor WinMFS can "unstripe" shows from an internal/external S3 platform setup into single intact files on a single internal drive, even if there's plenty of space.

Copy them to PC if you can, otherwise watch them and wave bye bye (or dump via real-time analog to VCR or DVD or whatever).

You might have been able to do that with a 2 internal drive Series 1 or Series 2 setup, but apparently neither MFS Live nor WinMFS can "unstripe" shows from an internal/external S3 platform setup into single intact files on a single internal drive, even if there's plenty of space.

Copy them to PC if you can, otherwise watch them and wave bye bye (or dump via real-time analog to VCR or DVD or whatever).

Click to expand...

I think I beat you to the punch as I see my post time is the same as yours but only by a few seconds.

As I understand it I can clone them both to a single drive using this tool. Is that correct? Has anyone done it?

Click to expand...

This can be done according to the guy I bought my 2TB plug&play drive from.

He charged extra (if I recall about $80) for this service and it required about 10 days turn around time.
Between the $$$$ I did not have (at the time) and the turn around time; I did not get the data transfer done.

You could try contacting the guy and ask if he would transfer the data from your 2 drives to your new larger drive.

This can be done according to the guy I bought my 2TB plug&play drive from.

He charged extra (if I recall about $80) for this service and it required about 10 days turn around time.
Between the $$$$ I did not have (at the time) and the turn around time; I did not get the data transfer done.

You could try contacting the guy and ask if he would transfer the data from your 2 drives to your new larger drive.

Click to expand...

Is there a reason you're not giving contact info for this guy? Or should we just Google "the guy who sold Teeps a 2TB drive"?

- Used WDIdle3 to stop the head parking
- Had to copy my existing 500GB TiVo drive (with no saved programs) to the new drive using the MFS-Live boot CD because WinMFS kept crashing as soon as I identified the new target drive
- Then "Expanded" and "Supersized" it from Windows7 using WinMFS
Now the info screen shows almost 300hrs of HD recording time available

- Used WDIdle3 to stop the head parking
- Had to copy my existing 500GB TiVo drive (with no saved programs) to the new drive using the MFS-Live boot CD because WinMFS kept crashing as soon as I identified the new target drive
- Then "Expanded" and "Supersized" it from Windows7 using WinMFS
Now the info screen shows almost 300hrs of HD recording time available

Thanks for all the good info in this thread!

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A successfully expanded and supersized 2TB drive should show @317-318 hours of HD recording time.

Yes and no. If you expanded a smaller drive to a 2TB drive using the current software available then no. Supposedly from one of the vendors of tivo aftermarket items has an ability to do a 2TB internal plus a 2TB external drive but it has to be done at time of purchase. If you have a native 2TB XL4 you can currently add a 1TB WD expander.

I installed an internal 2TB expansion drive, currently at 82% full. Is there a > 2TB solution out there internal or external?

Thanks.

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Allow me to suggest that you copy some of those shows to a PC (the ones your cable company hasn't set the anti-copy bit on) and then copy them back when you're actually ready to watch them.

If you have more than one TiVo in the house, this will also allow sharing with much less loss of meta-data (like the date the show was recorded originally, as opposed to the date it got copied TiVo to TiVo, as well as some of the stuff that comes up when you hit the Info button).

Hooking an extra drive straight to the TiVo means that if either the internal or external develops problems you lose the shows on both drives.

I'm planning to upgrade a TiVoHD(652160) again, this time using a WD AV-GP WD20EURS. I originally upgraded from the OEM 160GB drive to a 1.0TB drive but since the 2.0TB drive prices have come down lately, I figured I can always use more room, right? What I'd like to know is if I can just use the WinMFS program to copy the settings and recordings using Mfscopy from the 1TB to the 2TB, then expand and finally supersize. If so, there is a part of the instructions that doesn't make sense to me and they are these 2 steps:

13. If you have not done so already, select File -> Select Drive and set the original TiVo drive as Drive A. Do not select anything for B.

Why would I set both the original drive AND the new drive as both drive A?

Once I get past this part, I know what to do as far as expand (going to use 1028mb swap) and then Supersize. Since this is a WD AV-GP drive, I shouldn't have to run wdidle3, correct?

I may be overcautious with this but I've never tried to expand an "expanded" drive before and I usually don't try to preserve the recordings but I have alot of them and it would take quite awhile to offload them to a PC or another TiVo.

I'm planning to upgrade a TiVoHD(652160) again, this time using a WD AV-GP WD20EURS. I originally upgraded from the OEM 160GB drive to a 1.0TB drive but since the 2.0TB drive prices have come down lately, I figured I can always use more room, right? What I'd like to know is if I can just use the WinMFS program to copy the settings and recordings using Mfscopy from the 1TB to the 2TB, then expand and finally supersize. If so, there is a part of the instructions that doesn't make sense to me and they are these 2 steps:

13. If you have not done so already, select File -> Select Drive and set the original TiVo drive as Drive A. Do not select anything for B.

Why would I set both the original drive AND the new drive as both drive A?

Once I get past this part, I know what to do as far as expand (going to use 1028mb swap) and then Supersize. Since this is a WD AV-GP drive, I shouldn't have to run wdidle3, correct?

I may be overcautious with this but I've never tried to expand an "expanded" drive before and I usually don't try to preserve the recordings but I have alot of them and it would take quite awhile to offload them to a PC or another TiVo.

Thanks for your help.

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The TiVo in some ways is closer to the Apple and other non-IBM/DOS/Windows type computers than it is to the standard PC that runs Windows these days on an Intel or AMD processor.

The Series 1 and Series 2 TiVos used PATA/IDE drives and controllers--the kind with the 40 pin connector and the corduroy-looking ribbon cable.

Each controller can handle 2 drives on one 40 pin ribbon cable, the first of which in PCs is called the master and the second of which is called the slave.

An alternative way of referring to them (iwhen not talking about PC/IBM-compatible/DOS/Windows type situations where one or two floppy drives would be drives A: and B: and the first bootable partition on the Master drive on the primary IDE controller would be drive C is the A drive and the B drive.

Since WinMFS handles S1s through S3s, it reflects that terminology.

There were even some S1s that came with two internal drives from the factory, and many S1s and S2s that had them added later.

So, if you were copying a 2 drive setup, you'd have to select the A drive and the B drive. Those would be the source.

Then you'd select the target drives, the first of which would be the destination A and the second of which would be the destination B.

Destination = Target.

In an S3 copying situation, there's only one internal drive, so there's never a B drive.

So you select the A drive, which is the source drive, whatever internal drive you just pulled out of the TiVo and want to copy.

Then you select the Destination (or target) A drive, which will be the new A drive once you put it in the TiVo.

So just make sure you pick the 1TB when you first click "Select Drive", before you tell it to do anything else, and then when you click mfscopy, select the 2TB when it asks for the destination drive.

Then wait a long time. It may look like it's frozen, but it's not.

Then, when it finally finishes, test it in the TiVo.

Then hook it (but not the 1TB) back to the PC and run WinMFS and and after selecting it, click on mfsadd to use the extra 1TB on the 2TB.

But make sure you've got version 11.0k of the TiVo software on the 1TB before doing the copy.

Running wdidle3 won't hurt anything and you can do it right after you've run WD's own diagnostic software long test on that 2TB before you put it into service.

There's very, very little chance that there's anything wrong with it, but now is the time to make sure, because it's not impossible.

Forgive the noobness, but I thought you couldn't go straight to a 2TB on an S3 using WinMFS. I thought you had to use JMFS to get the 2TB. If this is old info, can I go straight from the 160GB to a 2TB using WinMFS alone?

Forgive the noobness, but I thought you couldn't go straight to a 2TB on an S3 using WinMFS. I thought you had to use JMFS to get the 2TB. If this is old info, can I go straight from the 160GB to a 2TB using WinMFS alone?

Forgive the noobness, but I thought you couldn't go straight to a 2TB on an S3 using WinMFS. I thought you had to use JMFS to get the 2TB. If this is old info, can I go straight from the 160GB to a 2TB using WinMFS alone?

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It is only in the past few months that it has been discovered (which is to say that I sort of blundered onto it with the kind assistance of other readers) that 11.0k will let any of the S3 platform TiVos use up to a 2TB drive and partitions greater than 1TB (or 1.2, depending on how you do the math).